Is It Normal for My Newborn to Be Awake for So Long?

All babies are different. You just have a not so sleepy baby. You might try carrying him in a sling--my little guy loves the Moby wrap and happily naps there whenever I let him.

Hi B.,
Babies should be sleeping more and only eating after every 2-3 hours. Most babies can learn to follow a routine called E.A.S.Y from the Baby Whisperer book. It stands for Eat(with a pause to burp every 1-2 ounces), Activity (only about 20 min or so including diaper change, talking/playing with you/tummy time), Sleep (look for his first couple yawns and lay him down for sleep. If he needs extra help, try giving him a binky to suck for about 5 minutes or so... very soothing if he takes one, then you take it out or he will stop), then the last letter, Y, stands for You (when you have time to pick up, shower, Yea!...) Sometimes fussiness is mistaken for hunger and the process starts again and baby ends up snacking and really fussy... hence he has a hard time falling asleep. Wait to feed him every 2.5 hours or so, unless you know he's truly hungry. I also would suggest your soy formula could be a allergen. I found out one of my boys was allergic to soy formula at around one yr. I had him tested and sure enough... he was allergic to soy and dairy. If the above E.A.S.Y. doesn't work after a few days, you might check into this. And if you're really lucky,you just might have a more sprited baby that takes more effort to get to sleep. The above mentioned book does have some good words of wisdom and there are many others, but who has time to read when caring for a newborn :-) It does get easier and a good routine is usually in place after the first few months of life.
Best wishes for zzzs soon!
Barb

B., one of my sons was like that - and, no, it's not normal for most babies. My son was 9 lb 7 oz - my biggest one. He was awake from 8:30 am to 11:30 pm every day as a newborn. I had three toddlers besides him and it nearly drove me crazy. As you said, most of the time, he insisted on being held. I developed an arm of steel. When I put him down and let him cry in his crib - he cried and cried and cried. After only 6 or 7 weeks, I was out of energy. My husband woke up to me standing in front of the crib, crying, because I didn't have the energy to pick him up. I told my mother-in-law, and she got on the next plane. She stayed for a month and told me that, for the next month, she would take care of him (except for feeding - I breastfed). What a relief! This is what she did to get him to take two good, long naps in the daytime: She stood in front of our sliding glass door when the sun was shining in, put him over her shoulder so that his face was in the sun, then stood and patted and rocked back and forth until he fell asleep. It was brilliant! He had to close his eyes because of the brightness, so he eventually fell asleep. It took her several hours of doing this, but it was less each day. After awhile, all she had to do was stand in the sun, and he would go to sleep. When she left, I was in much better shape and so was he - happier because he was getting sleep! His personality then (and now) was that he didn't want to miss anything and would lose sleep to do it. He is now a father of three and loves them and takes care of them wonderfully. Good luck!

Both of my active, spirited children were like this. They were so interested in what was going on around them, that they rarely slept during the day. I knew that they were tired, but they just could not settle down.

Here are some things that worked for us:

Bouncy seat that vibrates. They took ALL of their naps in the bouncy seat.

Getting in the car and going for a 'drive' This put them to sleep right away. I got this idea from my parents who had to do the same with their active baby(me)

Once they could crawl-one at 5.5 months and one at six months, their naps became longer than ten minutes(more like 30 min. hehe!) and once they walked they became an hour in length. There is hope, but patience is what it will take to get there. I hope some of this helps, but you also might want to look into reflux. Good luck-you will be in my thoughts.

Is it normal for my baby to be awake for 6,7,8 hours at a time?

Normal isn't a word that is relevant to babies:) Don't worry that your baby isn't doing what's "normal". Some babies really don't sleep for long periods of times...That said, he is only 7 weeks old and does need ALOT of sleep. Maybe he's not happy during the day because he's tired?
I'm going to assume he's not spitting up the soy formula based on what you said, but possibly he isn't doing well on soy either. Soy is great, but many many children are allergic to it, or have a hard time digesting it. I didn't use formula much and havn't needed it for about 2 years (kids older), so I'm not sure which one to recommend, but perhaps there are other milk formulas that break down better? I'm sure other moms will have good suggestions on this. I just wanted to suggest that one...he might be a baby who likes to be held alot. If you dont' have a baby sling I highly recommend getting one. That way your hands can be free to do other things while he is close and snug to you. He probably will sleep more. Don't worry about holding him too much. At this age, babies really need the closeness of thier caregiver. Two...make sure you make time for yourself. Having a 3 year old and a newborn is joyous and hard work, so please take care of yourself. It is one of the best things you can do for you and your family. Do you have a family member or friend who can watch your children for you while you take a nap, or go do something you enjoy for a couple of hours? People who love you will be more than happy to help. Call on your village:)

One more idea...if you havn't tried this way of holding him, I always found it to help with calming babies down. Lie him tummy down horizontal across you on your forearms (his face will be outward). Hold him close to your body and rock or bounce gently. If his tummy is bothering him, this will put a nice gentle pressure on his tummy as well.

I know it's not always bliss, and at the end of the day I'm sure you are a bit exhausted:) but in a good blessed way - yes? You are doing an amazing job! Continue to seek different gentle approaches to loving and caring for your children. AND loving and caring ways for yourself.

Much good energy to you

A.
mom of 4 Birth and Parenting Mentor
www.birthingfromwithin.com

B.,

I would recommend reading a book on sleep habits and children. I read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and "Baby Wise" with my children. I kind of did a mixture of the two. There are several books out there and I think they help no matter which one you choose. I liked the Healthy Sleep Habits book because it talks about what sleep habits your child should have at what age. It also explains why newborn sleep is so sporadic during the day. I also liked the "Baby Wise" book because it talked about routine and feeding. I would never use that one by itself though. It's pretty vague. There might be a book out there that mixes both ideas, but I haven't really checked it out considering my children are older and I don't really need that anymore. Good luck.

B.,
A baby that age should be sleeping for extended periods. Sleep is very important for brain development and normal growth. There are a number of things that could be causing your baby's problem - everything from digestion/reflux problems, breathing/apnea tendencies to actual brain chemistry "electric" problems (the latter are much more rare).
I would talk to your pediatrician sooner, rather than later, so that you can avoid any long-term effects from sleep deprivation.

Good luck - hope you both get some good sleep!
-A.

No, I don't think so that it's good for a newborn to stay awake so long. I use babies magic tea for my baby with same problems and he now sleeps normal without tummy trouble.

B., it will be the most helpful for you to get the "Baby whisper" book. it will work wonders for you and your baby. i started reading it when mine was 8 weeks old and it saved my life! you wont regret it. good luck

Hi, I know you've received a lot of advice already...just want you to know that my 3rd child who was supposed to be the 'easiest' was exactly the same way. Simply stated it was - EXHAUSTING. My first two babies took 2-3 hour naps so naturally I was expecting the SAME thing. She napped only 10-15 minutes 2x a day, and then pretty well during the night. She just did not want to miss out on anything AND she did not want to be alone. And guess what? She' still the same way.
What I did - I started napping with her in the afternoon. And I mean, right next to her, bundled up tucked in tight. Being near to mother's smell and sound of her heartbeat is very soothing to many babies and from what I understand can help regulate them. I nursed so it was easy to lay down, but you can probably use a little break yourself about that time. She started sleeping about 45 minutes then. Not a huge difference, so don't get your hopes up too much. And car rides with soothing music can work miracles.
God bless and good luck!

Hi B.

We have a 5 month old princess and she stays up a lot also... However, adjusting her spine makes miracles and she becomes the happiest baby and sleeping problems go away... When their little spines go out of alignment, it causes them to become uncomfortable and get fussy... How would you feel if your low back or your neck went out of alignment and it would cause you to be in pain and discomfort??? How do you think the baby is going to communicate with you... by being fussy and restless... just like when they have a dirty diper or they are hungry...

Anyhow, please let me know if you like me to evaluate your baby and see if there is anything I can do to help...

Look forward to hearing from you

D. R., DC
____@____.com

He may have allergies to the formula. Check out www.naet.com to see a way to non-invasively ELIMINATE allergies. I know my son slept very well the days that we went and had him treated.

Good luck!
L.

It sounds like if he's not happy and he's constantly wanting changes of scenery, he is probably tired but just isn't good at soothing himself to sleep yet.

He should probably be sleeping 16-20 hours of the day (not every baby does, but chances are that's what he needs). Do you swaddle him for sleep? Do you have a soothing routine? I have found that my newborns are up for 2 hours (MAX) - maybe even after 1 hour awake, it could be time to put him down. Then again, I have never figured out how to get my newborns in bed on their own (they all want to be soothed of course), so my babies sleep in bed with me until 4 months old - even for naps. Otherwise, I could never get them to sleep.

You can look through all the recommended methods and choose the one that sounds right for you, but it sounds like you probably need something to teach your son how to sleep.

B.- I just wanted to add that there is a book called Happiest Baby on the Block. Talks about the 5 S's for soothing a fussy baby to sleep. The first one is swaddling and I did that with my first child. I am now doing it with my 8 week old. It really helps to start the soothing process. Get a good tight wrap, then sssshhhhh close to his ear louder than his cries, have him laying in your arms in his side, swing back and forth (rock back and forth). Sucking is the 5th S. Either feed him or use a pacifier. The book is really good. I know sometimes we want to get our babies use to noises around the house, but you might want to try swaddling him and taking him to a room with very little stimuli. It will help him calm down. Also, white noise helps. We run a humidifier at night. We have also used a mini vac near the baby for a few minutes to capture his attention. It mimics the womb because it is very noisy in the womb with the mother's heartbeat, blood pumping, stomach gurgling, etc.